9. Captured and Captivated

Crimwal's eyes widened

"Uh- Ueel…" He said fearfully, as Kalos pressed his gigantic blade on Kalnae's neck.

"Don't worry, they won't kill me," Kalnae said calmly as Kalos destroyed his sword.

Kalnae's goons all started getting up. Their movements were sluggish and they hurriedly stumbled over to Kalnae's side as she stood up.

"What are you going to do?" Raymond asked.

"I'm going home. I'm going to get some rest and go back to work. I suspect you'll get bored of this so-called adventure of yours within a week or so and Mr. Ueel, I expect him to arrive home safely by then and if he doesn't… just make sure he does, ok?" Kalnae said as she walked toward her carriage, with her goons in tow.

"What about my jobs and my debt?" Crimwal asked.

Kalnae stopped for a second.

"You think I seriously care about that? All I want is for my little mouse to be safe." She said before stepping into her carriage, which took off for Ianndor shortly after.

Raymond smirked as he watched Crimwal interact with his mother-

Wait a minute! Raymond was still confused as to how Crimwal was Kalnae's son.

Crimwal saw Raymond's facial expression and let out a weak sigh.

"She isn't my blood mother." He said.

"No, I understand that, but I'm still..." Raymond's voice trailed off as he began packing his things into his bag.

Everyone followed suit and in no less than ten minutes, they were prepared to leave.

"I'm curious. What's your story Crimwal?" Raymond as they walked toward the Tsav mountains.

"Where do you want me to start?" Crimwal asked as he took in the sights. The trees had changed, instead of green leaves, all of them had dark brown ones. No animals were present either.

"From the beginning, if you're comfortable with that," Raymond said.

"Ok, but promise you'll tell me yours after," Crimwal said as his shoes dug into the rather moist ground.

Raymond noticed this change as well.

"Everyone, get into your winter gear. This stuff was quite expensive so don't damage it too much, looking at you boy!" Raymond said but saw that Kalos was reading a certain red book, so he walked up to him and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ouch!" Kalos cried.

"Get ready, the climb starts now," Raymond said as he too changed into his winter clothes. He then quickly returned to Crimwal's side.

"Anyway, depending on your story, I may share a thing or two. Now get started." Raymond said.

"Ok. I was born to a pair of simple villagers. My life was relatively peaceful and my parents weren't that bad, I on the other hand wasn't so good." Crimwal said as they made their way through the black forest.

"I used to get in trouble a lot and my parents ended up locking me inside the house one day. I don't know why, but I was so upset that the following night, I tried sneaking out the window. I'm not sure, but I must have knocked over a candle or something as I escaped. Anyway, I joined my fellow hoodlums in the night and we had our fun, but by the time I got back, I found that the place I once called home had been burnt to ashes. In that moment, I recalled knocking over the candle I'd used to manoeuvre out of the house over." Crimwal said, his eyes narrowed as he carefully recalled the events of his childhood.

"I then learnt that my parents were still inside the house when it burnt and our neighbours had done their best to save them, but it was too late. Angered by the loss of valued members of the community, the village cursed my name and I was left alone. My friends alienated me and I eventually resorted to stealing in order to feed myself. But after getting caught and mercilessly beaten a couple of times, I ran over to the ashes of the old house, took whatever I could sell and left." Crimwal said.

No tears fe, but Raymond could see a bit of sadness within Crimwal's eyes.

"You were planning to sell pots, to who?" Raymond asked.

"What do you want, I was like nine years old!" Crimwal said with a pout.

"Ahem! Anyway, I eventually found myself wandering the streets of Llendor and yes, even back then it was a cesspool. Every day was a struggle to keep myself from entering Nar' Agrun at such a young age, so I sharpened my skills-"

"You started stealing more?" Raymond interrupted.

"Stop interrupting! Anyway, a year passed and I eventually made a name for myself among the younger generations of degenerates. The reputation kept me safe as a shield of sorts, but it also made me slightly overconfident. One day, one of the gutter rats told me that one of the top names in criminals of Crafia was living in a mansion to the south of Llendor. The rat said that the bounty on the person's head was enormous. This meant two things, the person was extremely dangerous and extremely rich. Seeing this as a challenge, twelve year old me went straight for the mansion. I snuck around carefully through its walls, looking for anything that would sell well, but then stupid little me saw a woman wearing tons of jewels, it was like a fire had been lit within me." Crimwal said as he looked into the afternoon sky.

"I waited, patiently, for the opportunity to steal those jewels. Using every trick I had, avoiding getting caught as much as possible, all to sate my ego. I didn't need the money, at that time, me and the street rats were making enough to live normal lives. Anyway, one day, as the lady took her morning bath, I hurried into her bedroom and took the jewellery, but as soon as I turned to leave I found a knife placed on my throat and a woman staring at me with nothing but killing intent. It was at this moment that I knew that the woman I'd been stalking was none other than Kalnae Telnor, one of the most vicious and ruthless people in all of Faacri. I'd heard stories about how she worked people to death in various parts of the kingdom and how if you were unable to work, or if you dared to refuse, she'd torture you to death. There was no escaping her so I closed my eyes and prepared for my not so tragic demise." Crimwal said while rubbing his neck.

"A moment passed. Then another. I opened my eyes to find her smiling gently at me with an expression I'd only seen once before. How can someone so beautiful look so threatening? I wondered. She then said words I don't think I'll ever forget: "Looks like a little mouse has snuck into my home". She gently placed her hand on my head and-"

"And what, she adopted you? She doesn't sound that bad-"

"No, she grabbed me by my hair, dragged me to the basement and tortured me and several of her guards, since they didn't catch me. After that, she invited me to have dinner with her, even though my body hadn't even started recovering from the countless wounds she'd inflicted on me. I sat by her side as she ate away at some cake. My instincts begged me to at least try running away, but my heart wanted to be as close to her as possible. Also logically speaking, being close to her would warrant some sort of protection, at least that's what I thought. Anyway, she fed me some cake and told me that she'd take care of me, but I'd have to pay for breaking into her home and attempting to steal her stuff. She said I'd have to serve her for ten years and then my debt to her would be paid. I then spent the next years few years of my life stealing and cheating in her name. I spent many nights in cities like Llendor and Ianndor alike, doing her bidding, but when my journeys ended, she'd be waiting for me in her mansion. It didn't matter what she was doing or who she had to meet, she'd drop everything just to see me." Crimwal then stopped walking, his voice trembled and his fists were closed.

"She then told me that she never got the chance to have children of her own and once she got to the top of the crime world, she found herself yearning the one thing that most women had. She said that since no man was worthy of giving her a child, she'd settle for a pet, a little mouse to be exact." Crimwal said, this time, tears fell and his jaws were clenched.

Raymond walked closer to him and gave him a light pat on the back.

"I- I hadn't realised it at the time, but I'd come to love her as she did me. So many years of being alone and she beat me into loving her!" Crimwal said rather loudly. He spent the next few minutes bawling his eyes out as Raymond rubbed his back.

After some time, the tears stopped and he regained his composure and continued walking.

"Anyway, after some time, she started sending me out less and less. But being the idiot that I am, I told her I wanted to go on an adventure, like the knights of old. Mom didn't take kindly to this. When she sent me out, she always sent me to places where she had some sort of control, but I wanted to leave Crafia. We got into a fight, she even threatened to cut my legs off to keep me from leaving, but I just wanted to see more of the world, so I-"

"You ran away and asked a man and his son to help you fulfil your childish dream?" Raymond asked.

"Yes," Crimwal said, lowering his head in shame.

"Hehe, ok. I get it now." Raymond said with a weak smile, that was hidden beneath his thick beard.

Raymond then stopped suddenly and looked back.

"Umm, Where are the others?" He asked.

Crimwal looked back as well, but night had already fallen and the large dark trees weren't helping in terms of visibility.

Raymond then spotted a frowning Kalos, a tired Estella and an Exhausted Eevana.

"There you are! Do you know how hard it was keeping up with you two, especially with Estella?" Kalos asked, but Raymond casually smiled before replying.

"Hehe, sorry. Couldn't help it. Crimwal was telling me his life story. But if it's rest you seek, then rest you shall have to do without, because we need to leave this creepy forest before we can even think about camping down." Raymond said as he turned around and continued walking.

"Well, you're right about the forest being creepy, but that's no excuse to leave us behind," Kalos said, but it looked like Raymond was ignoring his son's cries.

Crimwal walked up towards Raymond and whispered.

"If you're uncomfortable sharing your story around Kalos, you can tell me later." He said before walking with the others.

Raymond couldn't help but chuckle as they made their way towards the foot of the mountain.

Raymond had gotten everyone some winter clothes and it beginning to get ratter cold the further up they travelled, so buying winter clothes proved useful.

Kalos carefully walked by Estella's side, who had a fluffy blanket covering her.

Raymond felt a snowflake fall on his skin. He could see the distant peaks of the Tsav mountains and the snow that covered them.

"It's starting to snow." Kalos droned.

Oh? You've finally put down that book. Raymond thought with a sigh.

"Yes. It's about to get real cold real fast, so keep close." Raymond said as they left the black forest.

Their climb eventually led them to a small uninhabited cave, where they settled down.

"Oi, Kalos. How did you move that fast that time? All I saw was my mother's men disappearing." Crimwal asked as he sat down on his bed.

"Mmm? Oh, I'm not sure. I've actually been feeling white strange ever since I started using magic-"

"Kalos was cycling light and dark magic through his body, which gave him a boost," Raymond said.

"Oh? Is that something knights can do?" Crimwal asked.

"What? No! Definitely no! Cycling magical energy through your body for even a second would give you enough energy to fly to the sun and that's just light energy I'm talking about. Unfortunately, you cannot see it, but Kalos has been cycling his two magic's simultaneously ever since his powers awoke." Raymond said while glaring at his son.

"What the-" Crimwal gasped.

"Exactly! I'm out here trying my best to teach him some stuff, but there he is fracturing my understanding of magic as a whole." Raymond said.

Crimwal then pulled his blankets closer to his body. He noticed that Kalosýni's eye's had stopped glowing. He wanted to ask about them but then they started glowing again.

"Why do his eye's keep flashing?" Crimwal asked.

"I don't know. It could be a sign of the cycle process." Raymond said.

"What? You mean he's cycling right now?" Crimwal asked.

"Yes. Try and think of it like this: humans have a fixed amount of light and darkness within us when we use magic. We manipulate the light in and around us, but that doesn't change our neutrality. Kalos, on the other hand, is continuously breathing in and out magic like it's natural for him. He does all this while subconsciously maintaining the balance within." Raymond explained.

"And if the balance is broken?" Crimwal asked.

"One of two possibilities: the first could be his power collapsing in on itself, killing him in the process and the second could be the collective destruction of all life on the continent," Raymond said.

Silence befell the cave.

"Ah well, I'm going to get some wood," Raymond said before leaving the cave.

Crimwal turned to Kalos who simply smiled at him, oblivious to the maelstrom within.

"Aunt Estella, do you know what this word means?" Kalos showed her one of the pages.

Estella put on a puzzled expression which then turned to one of embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm not that good at reading," Estella said with a soft giggle.

"Aww."

"Let me see. I think I can help you with that." Eevana offered.

"Oh? You know how to read this?" Kalos asked.

"Umm… yes. I wouldn't mind teaching you, if you like." Eevana said.

"Yes and thank you!"

Kalos and Eevana spent the next few hours teaching Kalos what she called the old tongue.

Crimwal wondered where she had learnt it, but decided to hold down his curiosity.

"You're all still up?" A voice said at the mouth of the cave.

Kalos turned to find his father covered in a thin layer of snow.

"There you are! You were gone for a while, I was starting to wonder if you'd gotten lost." Kalos said as he helped his father make a little campfire near where Estella and Eevana slept.

"I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following us. We must rest up and leave as soon as possible." Raymond said as he shook the snow off his clothes.

"Who do you think it could be?" Crimwal asked.

"Not sure. It's definitely not your mother unless you've got other people chasing you." Raymond said as he crawled into his bed.

"No. If someone was following me, they'd have to be an enemy of my mothers and that list is very short." Crimwal said as he got into his bed.

"Mmm… well, let's get some rest. We'll think more on this tomorrow." Raymond said and soon everyone had their heads on their beds.

.

..

Thirty minutes later.

Raymond noticed that Kalos was quietly reading the red book.

"Hey, go to sleep!" Raymond said.

Kalos closed the book and placed it away from his bed.

Raymond sighed before closing his eyes.

"Raymond." A voice called.

Raymond opened his eyes to find a sleepy Crimwal sitting up with his hair covering his eyes.

"What is it?" Raymond groaned.

"Your story."

"What?"

"I want to hear your story?" Crimwal said with a yawn.

"Oh… that… umm… it's not that interesting though." Raymond said with another groan.

"I don't care. I told you mine, now you tell me yours." Crimwal said with a stern expression.

"Mmm… Fine. I'll tell you a story. One of a knight and his greatest adventure."